Is it true vegans/vegetarians need less sleep?

[legendarymidget]

I have been thinking of becoming Vegan or Vegetarian for the health benefits but I would also like to know if they do actually need less sleep?

I have heard a lot of rumours/myths and i'd just like to check if this one is true.

[ginkgo]

No! Most Americans have trouble sleeping and you do not want to get all the sleep that you need. Sleep Deprivation Common Among Americans | Psych Central News

[No Hope]

I hope that's the case, since after J-Pouch surgery, I can't get as much sleep anymore

[Brutha]

There seems to be a pattern that consuming animal fat increases sleep length. Seth Roberts tracked his consumption of animal fat very well and found that eating more animal fat helped him with his goal of sleeping longer.
On the other hand you have people like Steve who report that veganism helped him to sleep shorter.

It's kind of ironic. Seth* runs around and sees his increased sleep time as prove that eating animal fat is healthy. Vegans say that the reduced amount of sleep time proves that eating vegan is healthy.

*Seth is a person who had problems with awaking before he wanted to awake.

[secrets0stolen]

Many vegans do report they need less sleep, but some intentionally sleep more because they believe it is more natural. The first group tends to report their functioning is about the same, and second that they're energy goes absolutely through the roof!

[ginkgo]

One person may report one thing and another person may report another thing. Although the person may be mistaken or they may even be lying. If someone uses an alarm clock to wake up then they control how long they sleep and are not getting enough sleep. The alarm wakes you up before your body has finished sleeping. When your body is done sleeping, it wakes up by itself.

[votoshka]

I think the quality of sleep may be important! If someone's not getting enough sleep because they go to bed at night, toss and turn for hours, and then finally fall asleep only to wake up a few short hours later when the alarm goes off and they have to get up, then it's obvious that their quality and quantity of sleep is very poor!

However, someone who falls asleep easily, and has a restful sleep for 6 hours, before waking up refreshed, is probably fine. Both people may have the same amount of sleep, but for both it's very different.

I think one thing I've found since I cut out meat is that I don't feel the need to NAP anymore. It was quite common for me to sleep in the afternoons, even though I guess I'd get a normal amount of sleep at night.

I am not sure whether quality of sleep has anything to do with being vegan/vegetarian or not, however, but maybe instead has something to do with the overall healthiness of the diet?? Overall I eat better since I quit meat, but if I do have a meal full of lots of carbohydrates (ie pasta or bread) I can still become very sleepy and want to nap!

[3afash]

Originally Posted by legendarymidget

I have been thinking of becoming Vegan or Vegetarian for the health benefits but I would also like to know if they do actually need less sleep?

I have heard a lot of rumours/myths and i'd just like to check if this one is true.

It is true. I personally managed to sleep for only 4.5 hours a day for weeks, and my energy level shot through the roof. We need to step away from this sleeping 8+ hours a day business to living more. The yogis used to say that the left brain only needs 11.5 minutes of sleep a night to function. The right brain does not need sleep at all. Saying that "I need 8 hours of sleep a day" does not mean it applies to everybody. A person who needs that much sleep most likely has a dysfunctional organ in their body, probably their thyroid.

Read this article: We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness: The Joy of (Less) Sleep

followed by this: We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness: Better Sleep Part 1 - Dehydration

[Brutha]

One person may report one thing and another person may report another thing. Although the person may be mistaken or they may even be lying. If someone uses an alarm clock to wake up then they control how long they sleep and are not getting enough sleep. The alarm wakes you up before your body has finished sleeping. When your body is done sleeping, it wakes up by itself.

Sleep is quite complicated and there are no simple truths.
Your sleep length without an alarm clock doesn't indicate your sleep optimum. One the one hand their are people like Seth Roberts who awake too early. On the other hand there are people who can consciously wake up 4 hours after lying down to sleep.

I personally did one week of 3 hours core + 1.5 nap for a week in which I felt great. Than I couldn't do my nap because of social reasons and ended the sleep schedule.

For the claim that people should sleep 8 hours, those who sleep 8 hours die on average sooner than those who sleep 6 hours. Correlation isn't causation but it shows that sleep isn't an easy topic.

[shawnmihalik]

I can only offer my experience, and I know that my experience likely will not hold true for everybody. That being said, when I first committed to a vegetarian diet, the amount of sleep I found myself needing actually increased, but the quality of my sleep improved greatly, and I had far more energy and clarity throughout the day. Then, about two months after I adopted the diet, I suddenly found myself sleeping less than I ever had before--I usually wake up naturally before my alarm clock now--and the quality of the sleep and my energy levels throughout the day both stayed incredibly high.

I wrote a blog post specifically about this experience about a week ago.

[KtotheB]

In my experience I sleep the same amount as non-vegetarians. I need about 8 hrs a night. I sleep a little more in the winter when the darkness hits and the days are shorter.

I think it also depends on your ayurvedic body type. (ie kaphas sleep more than vatas)

xo

[katieben]

I'm not eating vegan right now, but I'm eating much cleaner than I did before - no caffeine except for hot tea, hot tea, mostly fruits & vegetables, yogurt, healthy nuts, low salt, hardly any processed food.

I used to sleep 8/8.5 hours a night, and lately I'm sleeping 6/6.5 hours a night, waking up without an alarm, feeling refreshed. I thought there was something wrong with that, until I remembered this thread... maybe it's normal to see this change?

[firenexx]

It is normal. The title of this thread is a little misleading. I would be more inclined to think that eating HEALTHIER and following healthy eating habits would let you sleep less. Not that I am against vegetarianism, for I generally follow a vegan diet (for what labels are worth.) But if you are a vegetarian and you eat cake and cookies all day, you will sleep longer than someone who eats raw fruits, vegetables, grass fed beef and raw dairy, and doesn't eat large amounts of food and alcohol and caffeine 5 minutes before bedtime. It doesn't have much to do with whether or not you eat one particular item (meat in this case)

If you are waking up without an alarm, feeling refreshed, then you are fine and there is nothing to worry about.

[Medusa locked]

I'm not so sure about this one. I used to be vegetarian for about 5 years. mostly raw, fresh foods. now I'm back on meat and I seem to manage on less sleep now than I did then. However, I meditate frequently and practice qi gong, where as then I didn't. Maybe, there's a life a lifestyle aspect that impacts it.
Vegetarians/vegans typically are more geared to healthy alternatives, not just in foods but in practices.

[waterfast]

YES, it is true... Very true.

I have been a vegetarian for almost 8 years now and I gradually began to notice the connection.

Before I became a vegetarian, I needed between 8 - 12 hours of sleep per night. It would be hard to fall asleep and when I did fall asleep I would sleep like a rock the whole way through, with little control over when I would wake up.

After becoming a vegetarian, I only needed between 6 - 8 hours of sleep per night. I started to become a lot easier to fall asleep. I would fall almost immediately into the dream state and I became a very light sleeper.
The Interesting thing is that my biological clock became a lot more accurate, meaning that if I thought to myself that I would like to wake up at 6am, even if it was already midnight, then I would find myself waking up right around 6am, just like I had imagined I would like to. This has happened time and time again with over 95% accuracy and has all but completely eliminated the need for an alarm clock.

As if that wasnt good enough, little did I know that the fun was just beginning.

In the last 3 years, I began to become more of a fruitarian than a vegetarian.
Eating about 80% Fruit and 20% Vegetables. I began to notice that the biggest effect on my sleep came from eating the fruit, even though vegetables help as well. As I became primarily a Fruitarian, my sleep requirements continued to diminish, down to 4 - 7 hours of sleep.

The way it works is that my Dreams and the line between my consiousness and subconsiousness have started to merge. What this feels like is that you can start to see your Dreams before you actually fall asleep, and this makes falling asleep within 5 minutes seem effortless. Furthermore, how it feels when you wake up is also a wonderful feeling. What Waking up feels like is that you don't have a groggy feeling in the morning, even if you have only slept for 4 hours, you will feel that the control is completely in your mind, where you will either be able to wake up immediately and jump out of bed ready to start your day, or fall back asleep as easily as it was when you first started and continue for additional time if you would like. But, this puts the ball in your court, giving you the chance each day to wake up at 4, 6 or 8 hours, rather than sleeping like a rock all the way past 8 hours without any exit options.

If you think that this is good there is still more that I discovered in my journey.

This effect is most noticable if you eat some fruit a few hours before going to sleep. Some might imagine that this might make it harder to fall asleep, similar to how coffee would behave, but the opposite is true! It very much makes it easier to fall asleep than it would be if you dont eat the fruit right before..

The right number of fruit to eat seems to be about 3 whole pieces.
The way that this works is if you drink the juice of x3 Fresh Sqeezed Oranges, you will find the easiest time falling asleep, increase dream awareness, and will knock, at least, 2 hours off your normal sleep requirement.
When you wake up, if you would like to fall back asleep, you will, again, find it easy to fall back asleep, but even easier still if you consumer another x2-x3 fresh squeezed oranges. This will help you realize that it is indeed the fruit that is working miracles in your sleep.

Another positive side effect is that your Dreams will be More Vivid. You will sleep less, but you will Dream Longer! You will have more control and participation in your Dreams and you will have more recollection of them afterward. This was one of the main encouragements for me, that helped me realize that I was on to something good for myself and found the right path for my health.


Now, I myself was very pleased with these results and have continued this lifestyle clear through to today.
However, there is even more that is to be discovered.


I have recently begun the process of water fasting over the past 2 years.
And during water fasts have noticed that my sleep requirements are between 2-4 hours. I have done over a x20 3-5 day water fasts and have noticed that the incremental benefit has reduced my sleep requirements post-fast to a solid 4 - 6 hours of sleep per day. Also, in my latest fast that I am currently on as we speek, I am going for 21+ days. I am currently on day x3 and even yesterday, I was waking up from sleep every 1 hour and only needed 3 hours total.

My subconsious was very active as after I woke up, I immediately closed my eyes and realized that I was still Dreaming, even while being awake. I remained in my bed with my eyes closed and gave my dream another few minutes to complete until my subconsious settled down, then I opened my eyes and got up.

Two Facts to consider for how fasting helps you Sleep shorter and feel Better...

1) When we dream, the Pituatary Gland releases its highest amount of HGH, this is what makes REM sleep the most restful and regenerative state of sleep.

2) 24 hours of Water Fasting releases x20 the normal amount of HGH in Men and x13 in Women.

Put one and two together and you have a very powerful combination for regenerating your body and boosting your sleep potential!

Have fun discovering these facts for yourself!!!



Some other Facts to consider:
I DO NOT eat/drink any: Alcohol, Coffee, Soda, Tea, Processed Food and/or Junk Food.

Among Most Beneficial Dream/Sleep Fruits:
Apples, Oranges, Pomagranates, Mangoes, Grapes, Pears, Water Melon & Young Coconut Water.

[kat]

I'm a strict vegan, have been for more than 10 years, and need significantly more sleep than average, regardless of factors like how much fruit I'm consuming. I don't think I need less sleep than I did as an omnivore.

People vary.

[waterfast]

Originally Posted by kat

I'm a strict vegan, have been for more than 10 years, and need significantly more sleep than average, regardless of factors like how much fruit I'm consuming. I don't think I need less sleep than I did as an omnivore.

People vary.

Interesting.. With me, there is definitely a big difference if I eat some bread vs some fruit before going to sleep. With fruit clearly being the best of all foods in improving my sleep.

What percentage of your Daily Vegan diet is composed of Fresh Raw Fruit?

[kat]

Originally Posted by waterfast

Interesting.. With me, there is definitely a big difference if I eat some bread vs some fruit before going to sleep. With fruit clearly being the best of all foods in improving my sleep.

What percentage of your Daily Vegan diet is composed of Fresh Raw Fruit?

It varies. These days, around a quarter, by calories.

[waterfast]

Originally Posted by kat

It varies. These days, around a quarter, by calories.

Usually, the effects of sleep improvement from eating Raw Fruit are noticed by me when I eat more than 1/2 of my diet as fruit and I tend to average around 3/4 of my diet as fruit.

[danas]

This could be. I used to not be able to function on less than 8 hours
Id really suffer if I had less sleep, and my biggest fear was to not have enough sleep before an important day. Nowadays, since I became vegan (mostly raw) Im not afraid bc I can function fine with less sleep. Even 3 hours of sleep Im fine. While in the past I couldnt function at all.

[waterfast]

Originally Posted by danas

This could be. I used to not be able to function on less than 8 hours
Id really suffer if I had less sleep, and my biggest fear was to not have enough sleep before an important day. Nowadays, since I became vegan (mostly raw) Im not afraid bc I can function fine with less sleep. Even 3 hours of sleep Im fine. While in the past I couldn't function at all.

This is right. It still feels good to sleep a little extra, but its easy to get up whenever the need is raised. And my biological clock is spot on. Even if its just in 1 hour that I would like to get up, it doesn't let me down, it gets me up!

[Roby]

Yes, i too feel the same. I am vegetratian for past 4 years and i feel that am sleeping for less hours, that 4-5 hours, but one of my doctor said that sleeping 5 hours is quite normal.

[Requiem]

I probably cut off 30 minutes per night when I was vegetarian.

It's hard to say what my body really "needs". Not a ton.

I've found that it's exercise level, rather than diet, that determines how easy it is for me to fall asleep, and how much sleep feels right.

[Acting Like Godot]

I would like to offer some different perspectives here.

Thanks to Steve's past blog posts, there's a common perception that somehow it's a great idea to sleep less, get up early etc.

Well, it could be a great idea, or it could be a bad idea. If that extra hour is spent on something useful and productive, it is a great idea. If that extra hour is spent on useless activity, then it is a bad idea and you would be better off giving your body an extra hour of sleep.

Also, I want to add that there are numerous ways to increase your productivity and effectiveness, without waking an hour earlier. In fact, standard definitions of productivity would tell you that working one extra hour to get one extra hour's worth of output is not a productivity gain at all. This is because productivity is measured on a per unit time basis.

This blog title might well have been rephrased as follows- "is it true that vegans have a greater tendency to suffer insomnia?"